In a land of Men and Monsters
by MermaidOdair
Summary: All the stories, all the creatures that had been appearing in folk tales for centuries, were real. Strange things, stranger than they could have ever imagined, did happen in the woods surrounding Downton Abbey.
1. Chapter 1

**Halloween story! This story had been such a journey and I can say that me and crystabelshalott are really proud of it and I hope you enjoy this as much as we do, we're really sorry for any eventual mistakes and happy Halloween!**

* * *

><p>It had all started with him and Thomas looking out for a new adventure. They were trying to prove that, contrary to popular belief, there was absolutely nothing in the woods surrounding Downton Abbey. Nothing to fear, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that seemed out of place. How could there be? All those stories… They were nothing more than fairy-tales, used to warn people against wandering around in the night.<p>

Tom and Thomas had been so sure about it, and yet they were in the wrong. All the stories, all the creatures that had been appearing in folk tales for centuries, were real. Strange things, stranger than they could have ever imagined, did happen in the woods surrounding the Abbey and the two friends, but Tom in particular, had experienced it on their own skin.

_"Never leave the house after sunset. It doesn't matter who asks you to, you never, ever have to walk in the woods at night. Night time is when the wolves attack" That's what Mr. Carson had told him, between indications about routine, work and lodging, when he started to work for the Crawleys. Years had passed and he was just as cynical as he had been then about the butler's words. But even if he were, Tom couldn't get rid of the feeling of discomfort that had been possessing him the whole time. Perhaps in the woods weren't any dangerous creatures, but a prohibition was a prohibition._

_What if he would have lost his job? He couldn't afford it, not when part of his earning was used to support his family. Wasn't this the main reason he was still working as a chauffeur, instead of just making the jump and try something new and something he had always wanted to do? He couldn't just let them down for a mere whim. Why on earth had he accepted Thomas's challenge? Why after all those years that he had been working for the Crawleys?_

_"Thomas" he hissed, trying to catch his friend's attention._

_"What is it Branson? Are you panicking? Giving up? You know as well as I do that those stories are all lies" Thomas mocked him._

_"Aye, but we need to get back. It's dangerous, if they find out they'll dismiss us and I can't afford it, neither can you" he warned him._

_"Oh come on Branson! I've been working here for half of my life, give me the satisfaction to leave for London with the certainty that I was right all time long"_

_They stopped, both thinking about what to do next. Keep going, defying fate and rules, or just get back? Silence fell between them. The darkness of the woods, with the thick mist around them and only the noise of their breaths to be heard, was the perfect set up for stories of horror, on that Tom would have had to agree._

A howl.

At first the sound of feet pounding the ground was nothing but an echo, then, in a matter of seconds it got closer until it was a rapid rhythmical beat.

"Run!" screamed the both of them in unison.

They were fast, but not as fast as the creature chasing them. For some time there they were: the first footman and the chauffeur of the Crawleys running for their lives, making a good thing of it, but then the beast got the best over them.

Tom fell onto the ground. Thomas tried in vain to help him up but the creature, who now appeared to be more man than wolf, pushed him to the side making him fall against a tree. The impact took away his breath, and he remained there looking at his friend and feeling completely helpless.

Tom looked up, the red eyes of the wolf staring at him. That was definitely not the last image he wanted to see while on this earth 'God help me' he whispered before the world around him got black.

"Mr. Branson? Mr. Branson!" Mrs. Hughes's voice reached him and took him away from his memories.

He looked at Downton's housekeeper and nodded as if to acknowledge her presence.

"Are you feeling unwell? You are as white as a sheet"

"Aye, does it surprise you?" he asked her.

Both of them aware that the previous night had been a bad night for him.

"No" Mrs. Hughes replied flatly, as she took place beside him.

She knew what had happened to him, and it had been her to help Tom clean his wounds as he got back from the woods. And it was her that had summoned him to her sitting room a couple of days later, in order to explain him the consequences of his reckless actions.

Not dismissal, that would have probably been a relief compared to the truth, as Tom first had thought.

_"The creature that attacked you, from what you've been describing was a werewolf and it bit you."_

"A werewolf? There's no such thing"

"There is Mr. Branson, and you will turn in one of them. We can make this easier for you, I'll make this easier for you, but you have to trust me and accept my help"

Tom had been more than surprised that night to discover that Mrs. Hughes, a very serious woman, was a master in magical creatures and knew all the legends and tales that people often overlooked - just as he had done - as just fairy tales, but that were true. But he was grateful to the old woman because, after some bad starts between them, she really had been able to help him and make the whole experiences a little easier to bear.

"I appreciate your concern but it really is just a headache" he explained.

"You have had lots of headaches lately" she paused a moment and added in nothing more than a whisper "How did it go? The effects of the transformation?"

"Mrs. Hughes, is this a polite way to ask if last night I have turned into a human-eater werewolf?" asked Tom with a bit of sarcasm and anger in his voice. An apology immediately followed, after he had seen Mrs. frowning at him. After all it wasn't her fault if he had found himself in such circumstances. There was only one person to blame and that was him, him and his stupidity.

"I managed to maintain some level of control. Broken furniture and so on, but nothing beyond that. I didn't leave the cottage, I was a danger for myself only not for the others. At least in some _ways _I'm still like a person"

"You still are a person, Mr. Branson" reassured him Mrs. Hughes.

"Aye, one who turns into a monster every full moon"

"You are not the only one Mr. Branson, people like you… others. We live in a land of men and monsters and sometimes the real monsters are the men"

Tom shrugged, not sure whether or not to believe at her words.

"We'll talk" warned him Mrs. Hughes.

"Later. I have to take Lady Sybil to the village"

He excused himself, run towards the garage, finished to put on his livery and got in the car, driving it to the front of the house. Tom had been sure that he was in time, but Sybil Crawely - the youngest daughter of his employer and the nicest person at Downton - was already waiting for him.

"I am sorry for the wait Lady Sybil" Tom politely said as he helped her in to the car.

"Don't be. Besides I'm pretty sure that I was early myself" she took his hand "And it's a beautiful day, don't you think so Branson?"

"It is milady"

Sybil didn't add anything else, she just smiled to him. A smile that made his heart beat faster, which wasn't exactly a positive thing considering his _condition _as Mrs. Hughes had explained to him.

Tom looked at her for a moment and smiled back. How would have Sybil reacted knowing that her driver and friend -because indeed they were, ever since Tom had handed her some pamphlets about women's rights upon his first months at Downton- was a werewolf? A monster?

She would have thought him abhorrent, no doubt.

She would have thought him abhorrent no doubt.

Tom was wrong. Sybil would have been the last person to judge him because she had a secret herself. Perhaps it wasn't as dark as his, but it sometimes it felt like a course too and it happened before that because of it people had distanced themselves from her because they thought her mad. Sybil wasn't mad, she had thought it so herself while growing up, but in the end thanks to Mrs. Hughes, she had started to see the reason in the situation.

Ever since Sybil had been a child, she had been different: she could hear voices in her head for entire hours, voices that screamed for pain, or whispered things that were not meant to be said. The voices of people who had nothing to do with her, and yet their pain became hers. A constant burden that made her cry for long times and scream like a madman, just because she wanted to cover them with her own voice. The disapproving looks of her parents, the people whisper behind her back 'there comes the youngest daughter of the earl, the one who isn't quite right with her head.

And one day, when she was eleven, Mrs. Hughes had found her curled up in the corner of her room, hands covering her ears, crying, and whispering all over again 'please make it stop'. The touch of the house keeper as she gently removed Sybil's hands from her ears, had scared her and she fought against her to cover her ears again, with the vain belief that it would have helped.

"What is it, my darling?" asked the housekeeper sweetly and in a whisper, acting for a moment as a motherly figure for the little girl and trespassing all society rules.

"Please just make it stop, just make it stop. Make it stop!" Sybil screamed on the top of her lungs, the 'o' of stop made Sybil's face distort in a grimace of pure pain and horror. It was Sybil's scream that made rouse doubts in Mrs. Hughes's mind, and after having made some research she found them to be true.

Sybil was a banshee, a very powerful one, and was able to hear the whispers of the souls. She knew about their deaths and about their pain.

All those people in the world and Sybil could hear them all.

She had learned how to build mind barriers, to control them, but there were moments in which it would have gotten worse and nothing helped.

Tom looked back at her, and was surprised to see that there had been a change in her appearance. She looked distressed, all the happiness and joy from a moment ago completely vanished.

"Lady Sybil?" he asked, his voice barely covering the one in her head "Are feeling well? You got very pale all of sudden."

She forced a smile, before she answered "I am, thank you. And I'm not sure that I can say the same about you. You've been looking ill for this entire time"

"A headache milady. It's slowly getting better so it's nothing to worry about"

"I can suggest a remedy if you want"

Sybil hoped that he would have said yes. It would have given her a moment of distraction and it would have given her the opportunity to use her nursing skills. She loved being a nurse, and her dream was to become a doctor one day despite the fact that her father completely disapproved of her career choice. For him Sybil had to be nothing but a fine lady, though she knew that it wasn't possible not when effects happened.

"Thank you, but I doubt it will be necessary"

"Just tell me if you change your mind. It's always a pleasure to help"

She looked at Tom, took a deep breath and gathered up the courage and boldness to ask him again how he was feeling, with a tone of voice that implied not lying to her.

There was something wrong. Some time ago she had heard that someone was in danger and the same day Tom had fallen down the staircase. Now Sybil didn't absolutely believe in the staircase story, it seemed the less plausible thing on earth. Branson barely used the stairs: he lived in the chauffeurs cottage, worked in the garage, didn't have to use stairs to go to the kitchen for dinner and it was rare that the chauffeur was inside the house at all.

But she received the same answer, so she decided that she would have looked into the matter herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Sybil wasn't sure if Tom's supposed illness was something that had lasted for all this time or just came on and off. Not that she was now convinced that there had been an illness and, after a month, the idea that it was all related to a simple fell from the stairs was even more unlikely. When Tom had first told her about the accident (and Mrs. Hughes had later confirmed it) he said that he fell of the fifth step. In a rather ungraceful manner, but from the fifth nonetheless. But, a month later, he still looked pales and fatigued in certain days.

She couldn't just get rid of the conviction that there had to be something more in it, and so she started to ask more question. First to her father, dropping the hint that when Tom had taken her to York he had looked ill again, then to Anna, and later to another bunch of people, but she had always received the same answer or, in her father's case, 'I didn't notice. I'll ask Carson'. In short she didn't learn anything that she didn't know already.

It was the similarity of the answers that were given to her, as if they had been copied off an_official _version, that made her ultimately go directly to Mrs. Hughes. If there was something going on, whether it was natural or paranormal (after all Sybil couldn't have been the only one with some sort of powers, could she?), she would have know and, with some luck, the housekeeper would have been sincere with her.

Again she didn't achieve anything, except nearly giving herself away by calling him Tom and not Mr. Branson. At her pleading question about the chauffeur's real state of health she had received a stern look that had intimidated her and stopped her from carry on the conversation.

"Be careful young Lady" had been the only thing that Mrs. Hughes had said to her.

Of course the housekeeper could have been referring herself both to Sybil's momentary slip by calling the family's chauffeur with his first name (and perhaps she had shown a little too insistence and concern that suited someone who didn't bother in a too profound way about the staff), and to something regarding the consequences of Tom's accident.

Was she becoming to be obsessed about the whole matter? No.

Yes.

A little.

But the persisting feeling that there had to be more wouldn't leave her, so she decided that if Mrs. Hughes - or anybody else - wasn't going to reveal her anything, Sybil would have found out herself.

And so Sybil Crawley started to investigate.

Spending time with Tom wasn't a problem, she had been doing it for ages. Moments in the garage, where the two of them would have been alone, had happened nearly every day for the last seven years. Tom usually worked with the cars, while she sat down on the bench a novel in her hands or some essays about women's rights or politics which they would have started to discuss. Other times they talked about their lives, their dreams and ambitions, and all the small things that came to their minds. This way she had learned many things about Tom: how he didn't want to remain a chauffeur for forever, how his ambition was to become a journalist, and that although he sometimes wondered if he could have ever made it into politics (even if it was just for a town council) he considered this more a dream than an ambition.

_They can't miss a man like you:_ that had been her reply. And although Tom had looked at her as if she was just messing up with him, she meant it with all her heart ,

There was another thing that Sybil had learned, this time about herself, or was it better to say about the extension of her feelings towards Tom Branson.

She was in love with him.

Simple as that, and yet it had to remain secret. She could have whispered it between herself as much as she liked, she could have imagined how it would have been telling him, how it would have been if he reciprocated her feelings, and she could have dreamed about kissing him but that was it. There were a series of matters that came between them and perhaps her parents disapproval wasn't even the worst one. Suppose Tom was in love with her, and was willing to start a new life with her, Sybil could have easily talked against her parents, uncaring of their disapproval in order to live the life she _wanted. _Perhaps they would have come around, perhaps not but wasn't it worse than Tom discovering her secret?

What would he have said if she revealed him about her being a banshee?

Did he even believe in such things?

Or would he have thought her mad just like everybody else did?

And how could she even introduce such a subject?

_Good morning Tom. There is something you ought to know, my mind… It's tuned on differently. I hear people suffering, I hear them dying. My head is full of voices and I'm not really capable of shut them down._

No. She would have just enjoyed his company as usual, until one day they would have parted (because it would have happened and she would have been glad that in the end he would have made something of himself) as friends. Then she would have tried to make a reason out of it.

Tom heard the sound of steps on the pebbles outside the garage long before Sybil entered it. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that it was actually her arriving, but he certainly hoped so. It was true, she had already passed by that day, immediately after lunch, but he wouldn't have minded seeing her again. Not the least.

Maybe it wasn't wise for Sybil to step twice into the garage. Through the years she had spent quite a lot of time in there and it was strange that no one had yet noticed that she spent all that time at the garage during the day.

What if someone became suspicious?

Sybil always had some excuses - a message to deliver, a lost item - but even those were slightly repetitive.

Tom laughed between himself at the memory of Sybil coming to the garage for four times in a raw with the excuse that she had lost a glove in the car. The early days… now she just joked about them. She didn't have to justify herself with him anymore, not that it was ever needed: Sybil's visits at the garage, no matter how short, had always been welcomed.

The moment when the youngest daughter of the earl of Grantham would have made her appearance on the door frame, were the best part of his day. Leaning against the door frame with her body, she always looked at him for some time before calling for his attention asking him about his day, about what he was doing and if she was bothering or getting in the way.

The answer was always the same: no, she wasn't.

Then Sybil would have said something along the lines 'Perfect, I'll keep you company then' and she would have sat down on the bench that was placed on one side of the garage. She would stay there for some time, asking him questions or just talking about herself before leaving him again. Tom would try to go on with his work as usual, though it was a little difficult not to look at her every now and then and smiling.

He must have smiled like an idiot! And perhaps the way he looked at her gave away his feelings.

_His feelings…_

It had all started when he first handed her the pamphlets, although it was nothing more than mere friendship back then. He had been interested in discovering how Sybil ticked as a person, and she proved him wrong about his ideas about the upper class. But then he developed a crush and he became aware of it the night Sybil turned up at dinner wearing a pair of blue harem pants. He had seen a glimpse of her by passing in front of a window, and he hadn't missed the shocked faces of the Crawley nor her face full of pride, and he had smiled herself.

Then he started to sneak off with her to go to political meetings, during one of which she remained injured and for the first time he had faced the terror of losing her. At the political meeting he had realized that his wasn't a crush anymore, that would have passed as quickly as it came, but a deep love. That had endured for years.

A war had passed and he was still in the garage, still in love with Lady Sybil, still with the intention to gather all his courage to ask for her hand or at least admitting the truth.

But a new factor had been add to the equation and he wasn't sure about anything any longer. If before it had been all a matter about him being the chauffeur and she a lady, now it was the fact that he was a werewolf and she a human thus meaning that he could have hurt her any time he transformed himself. He was good at keeping control, that was true, but he could have hurt her nonetheless and that was a thought he found unbearable.

"Good evening Mr. Branson" said Sybil as she stepped into the garage.

Tom looked up at her, a smile creeping up his face.

"Are you following me? Because we seem to meet quite a lot recently" he asked with a smirk.

"I'm afraid I have forgotten my gloves in the car" she replied, holding back a laugh "Or maybe, I just enjoy your company very much. You'll never know" she flirted, her voice nothing but a whisper.

"Oh is that so? Milady enjoys my company?" he asked boldly.

"Why shouldn't I? Anyway I came to ask if you were feeling better now, after this afternoon in Ripon.."

He was waiting for Sybil in the car and when she came out of the shop, just before she was about to get into the car, a baby started to cry. Sybil had heard it, of course, but she had been surprised in noticing that Tom did too. He cringed for a moment, as if the distant noise was beside them and amplified. His pupils dilated, and his fists clenched but before he did such an action she had seen a glimpse of something that looked like claws. She had been sure that she had just imagined it, because when she looked again there were Tom's hands with fingernails like the next person had.

Had really happened what she saw? Or was it yet another trick of her mind? After all she wasn't entirely concentrated when it had happened, her mind still working on rebuilding the barrier to block the voices.

Nope, there fingernails. She must have imagined it all, and he did look fine.

"I am, it was a .."

"Headache. Yes, yes I know. you seem to have them quite a lot"

Tom looked at her, for a moment it looked as if Sybil was about to add something else. He knew that there was something behind her insistence. All these questions about his health, there was something behind it. And she didn't believe about the head ache story, nor the stairs, that was more than obvious.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to.. I'll go now, thanks for helping me with the gloves!"

This said she turned her back on him and waved him goodbye, as she made her way to the house again.

"Goodnight Mr. Branson!" she said.

Goodnight, that was unlikely.

It was full moon again, and the night would have been everything but good.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't a dream, it was a presentment.

Through the years Sybil had learned to distinguish the first one from the seconds. Nightmares didn't leave her as awake as ever, her heartbeat accelerated, her body temperature dropping and the persistent urge to get out of her room, out of the house, and follow the path that meanwhile was becoming clearer in her mind.

Where the path would have taken her to, she didn't know. She had never had the chance to find out. She had always been blocked in time, her behavior associated with sleepwalking even if Sybil protested that she had to go away for some reason, and later, when Mrs. Hughes had started to teach her some things, it stopped. Even in moment of weakness, Sybil managed to contrast her own impulse: it took time, but she didn't move a centimeter from her bed, she just waited to calm down and to free her mind again.

But this time it was different.

This time it was _personal._

She might have not been in complete control of her powers, and she wasn't completely sure about how they were supposed to work and with what end, but there was a name that came out again and again. A murmur in all that noise.

_Tom Branson._

Was he in danger? Was he about to die?

She had to find out and prevent it.

Sybil got up, her bare feet touching the cold flies of the pavement. She didn't bother with dressing up, that would have made her waste time, and just grabbed an old woolen coat that she put on before leaving her room. On tip toe she went downstairs, careful not to make any noise that would have given her away, and then exited Downton.

The cold air hit her face, and it took her a moment to adjust to the new condition. She took a couple of deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying to focus only on what was going on in her mind. She had to trust her powers, she had to have faith in herself and in the fact that she could have made it.

He could feel it: his body reacting to the presence of the moon, the anger rising inside him and slowly overcoming every other feeling.

Tom grabbed the back of a chair, his knuckles becoming white out of the strength he was putting in the task. His breathing was irregular and his heartbeat accelerated.

He had to focus.

He had to keep control.

Hold back the transformation.

There were ways, he had practiced but it wasn't enough. Not this time.

The _thing _was stronger.

Out winning his nature seemed a highly unrealistic idea.

His body was changing and he felt it.

The urge to run, leave the cottage and free himself of all the doubts was far too appealing. Running out in the woods would have been safe, right? There were all those stories and prohibitions, people didn't go into the woods of Downton if they were sensible enough to follow advice.

He couldn't go! He was a danger for everyone else.

But he had to, otherwise he would have become mad.

He opened the cottage's door and run out into the night.

The body welcomed the movement.

His muscles were stretching.

Tom Branson embraced his true nature.

It didn't take Tom much before he left the chauffeur's cottage behind and entered the woods.

The moonbeams were filtrating through the branches, creating silver reflexes in the puddles.

Tom run until he arrived in a small glad, that were it not for some insignificant elements was frightfully similar to the one where he had found himself when he had been transformed months before.

_Crack._

The sound of a twig being trampled on.

Sybil had found him. She did it! Somehow she had managed to start controlling her powers. There had been moments when she had taken the wrong path and wandered around pointlessly, but now everything was going to be all right, of that she was sure.

"Tom!" she called out as she stepped closer to him.

Tom was paralyzed. He stood there in the darkness unable to chose his next move.

How was it that Sybil had found him? And why did her voice seem so distant? And her movements seemed to mechanical…

"Syb…"

"You have to go Tom! You're in danger!" she screamed.

"Stop there" Tom warned her "And it's you who has to go" Tom replied, emphasizing the you.

"I'm not"

It was her only certainty.

"Feck Sybil! You need to"

"Oh"

Two yellow eyes, that seemed to glow in the night, looked at her: There was fur on his neck and hands, and claws on his fingernails.

She had been right! She had been right! Something had happened!

All his visits to Mrs. Hughes… It made sense now.

"A werewolf" she whispered.

Tom's secret finally revealed. The reason why he looked beaten down, sick and fatigued every now and then, right in front of her eyes. Hoe long had it been going on? And how was it connected to her dream?

Sybil walked towards him, stretching her arm out and reaching for him but Tom stepped backwards and out of her reach.

"No. You need to get the hell out of here!"

"I am NOT going!" she screamed back.

"It's dangerous"

The idea that something might have happened to Sybil, not because of him but for something else… he was sure of one thing she had to stay safe, he had to take her out of that damned place. Why did she have to be so foolish? So stubborn?

His mind wandered back to the by-election in 1914 when she got hurt. The same had happened back then: him telling her it was time to leave, and her saying that it wasn't the time yet.

The circumstances were a little different, that was true, but at the same time the result could have been the same. Or worse.

"For me or for you?" Sybil challenged him.

"You" he whispered.

Images of Sybil lying on the ground in York filled his mind. That time when she lay motionless without giving any signs of life. That time when he had realized the extension of his feelings for her. Sybil, who had always been so full of life and passion for the things she set her mind up for, lying in a puddle of blood on the ground of a dark wood.

_Sybil._

He focused on the thought of her. He focused on all the moment he had spent with her and would have spent in future, on the way she made him feel when they were together.

_An anchor. His anchor._

Despite the circumstances he felt his body slowly muting back to normal.

Mrs. Hughes had told him that it was a possible solution. That he only had to find the one thing he could have focused on and that would have given him the power to hold the _thing_under control. No more exercises that might or not have worked.

Why hadn't he thought about it before?

"No, and if you think that I will leave you here you are wrong. I'm not like the others… Tom trust me there is something I have to do" Sybil's voice distracted him from his thoughts.

Tom gave her a puzzled look.

What did she mean with 'I have something to do'?

What was there to do apart from going back in that exact same moment?

He was about to ask her when an howl echoed in the distance and he froze down.

Tom recognized it. That sound, that voice, was the same that haunted his nightmares. It was the same one that he and Thomas had heard the night of the attack.

It was the alpha that had transformed him.

The sound made Sybil shiver. Unlike a moment earlier when she had discovered Tom's secret, when she had seen him in his other form for the first time, she was utterly terrified. She knew Tom and despite being a little frightened when she had seen him, she had slowly seen him shift back but before that, the way he had spoken, it was still her Tom. But this other one, who was he?

"What is it?" she murmured.

"It…" The words died in Tom's throat. If the alpha was here Sybil was more in danger than ever.

"Milady" he said, trying to steady his voice and to sound imposing and formal "You have to run"

"And leave you here?"

"Aye. I'm sure that I will manage"

No, he wouldn't. Or at least there wasn't a sure out come.

Sybil opened her mouth, ready to say something, to explain why she was there, but in the same moment she heard a thud and turned around. Tom was about to shield her body with his but she stopped him, instead they stood on the same line, staring at the creature in front of them.

"My favorite love-birds, aren't I lucky? Two birds with one stone"

A new element added to the equation. Sybil looked at the monster in front of her. Something in her mind clicked, and slowly all the pieces of the puzzle were getting together. She felt_something._

"Or one. I'll spear the lady if you, Mr. Branson, will join my pack"

Her mind worked like crazy. A never ending swirl of voices and murmurs, but she didn't know what to do with them.

"Never" growled Tom.

"Then I'm afraid, I'll start from Lady Sybil here"

"No!"

_Think. There has to be something._

One thing. One advantage she had over the other two, over the alpha.

"Don't do this." Tom warned him, his own fingers turning into claws. He was losing his control but this could have made him more powerful. he might have stood chance.

Sybil straddled from Tom's grip and walked towards their aggressor. It was reckless but she might have made it in time to figure it all out.

The alpha grabbed her from her hair, pulling her head backwards. Sybil bit her lip trying not to scream, and trying to forget the pain.

She was nearly there.

She could feel it.

"What a lovely young lady we have here, and an Earl's daughter too" he pause a moment his claws running along the skin of her face. He added more pressure and cut her temple "It must have been rude on my part not to introduce myself, isn't that what you do? I'm Alex Green, and you are both mine"

"Stop it" screamed Tom, ready to jump forwards to free Sybil.

Sybil looked at Tom and lightly shook her head, telling him not to move.

There was fire in Sybil's eyes.

"Make the things easier and accepted before I kill your girl"

It was on the tip of her tongue.

She knew that she could have done it.

Resolution overwhelmed her.

All her life Sybil had felt like she was two different people: on one side there was Sybil Crawley, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Grantham, on the other the girl with all those voices in her head. She was used to switch unconsciously from one to the other, or to shut off the second by building mind barriers. That was the point, the two parts of her had to become one.

No more acts.

No more confusion.

She had to set her nature free.

She knew that she could have done it!

A smile crept up her face and a laughter bubbled up inside her. Everything would have been right if she would have followed her instincts, the rest would have come alone.

She had one urge, just one thing that she could think about.

She wanted to scream.

Scream to cover all the noise around her.

Scream to concentrate on the things that were in her head.

Everything was being too loud, even if no one was talking. She needed silence, she needed silence in her head.

The moment seemed to be frozen with Green's arm around her, the blood dropping from her temple and Tom ready to jump forwards. But she had the winning card, she had one advantage over the others. She was about to save the day.

_Scream. Scream!_

Sybil looked at Tom, and mouthed _just wait and see_ before making a smug face. The last thing she saw was Tom puzzled face, she closed her eyes, opened her mouth and begun to scream as if her life depended on it.

The moment she did everything became clear as daylight.

Tom and Mr. Green were both flabbergasted to hear the piercing sound coming out of Sybil's mouth. They looked at her and in unison said 'The Wailing Woman'. Tom had heard legends about it, he knew that only those who were about to die and Irish people could hear one, but what option was it?

Green's distraction was fatal, he loosened the grip on Sybil, who straddled and sprinted forwards. She grabbed Tom's hand and yelled 'run' at him.

The result of the encounter was clear to her: they were safe, but they had to remain that way.

Together Tom and Sybil run blindly through the woods. Sometimes they heard Green following them and other times they didn't, but they didn't dare to stop.

Sybil was afraid that she had been terribly wrong.

She stumbled and fell onto the ground, the moment of pause made her realize how tired she was and how much the wound on her head and the scratches on her feet were burning. The idea of remaining there till the end was appealing.

"Sybil, my darling" Tom stopped, contemplating the last words he had just spoken out. He had called her my darling, and god if it felt good "Can you make it?"

Sybil nodded and with his help got up again.

They resumed the running.

A flash illuminated the environment and a mild explosion quickly followed.

Sybil stopped.

_"You broke the rules!" a girl warned him "And finally I've found you. All these months, were you really thinking that you could have made it?"_

_Mr. Green tried to see her features, but the girls face was unrecognizable. He was unable to move his body to disarm her._

_"No. Don't"_

_"I will Mr. Green" the girl said as she took an arrow from the quiver, and placed it on her bow "The guardians are here to safeguard the equilibrium of these woods. They have done it for centuries. The worlds must coexist peaceful, the laws are always the same and you broke them. You'll pay for it"_

_"The things you could do if you…"_

_But Green was silenced by the silver arrow trespassing his heart._

"He's dead" Sybil gasped "he's dead"

"Come here"

Tom embraced her. Sybil leaned her head on his chest and hold him tight. They clung to each other, just like that, welcoming the physical presence of the other after the events that they had just lived. It felt good, it felt right.

Sybil looked up at Tom. Their eyes met.

"I don't suppose…" Tom started to say.

Their heads leaning forwards were now only inches apart.

"Yes, you…" Sybil started, anticipating the moment her lips would have met Tom's.

"Branson, thank God you found her"


	4. Chapter 4

"We found her!" screamed the Earl of Grantham.

Sybil and Tom jumped apart, hoping that none of the others had actually seen too much or realized what they were about to do. Having Sybil wandering around at night in her night gown, barefoot, scratches on her face and feet, and in company of the family's chauffeur was enough, there was no need to have them seeing her kissing Tom too.

Neither of them had actually realized how close they had been to Downton, being to concentrated about running first, and then being relieved about the outturning of events. Had they know, they wouldn't have succumbed to their need to stay close and the desire to kiss.

"Sybil! My baby!" her mother hugged her tight. "Thank God nothing happened to you. And Branson we are very grateful that you found her first"

"There's nothing to thank you about. I'm glad that Lady Sybil is safe and sound. Sleepwalking Mrs. Hughes said"

"She had this episodes when she was little. Sybil! Look at your face! Should we fetch Dr. Clarkson?"

"Mama, I'm fine. I just want to go back really, but what happened?" reassured her Sybil.

"Mary heard a noise. She went into the corridor to see and after a while she noticed the open door. She checked your room and then waked us all"

"And you send a search party"

"Don't be rude!" scolded her Robert "What did you want to do? Stay outside the whole night in your nightgown? Freezing yourself to death?"

"Of course not!"

"This didn't happen in years, I wander what caused it. Are you sure that you feel all right?"

Sybil nodded "I just want to go back really. I'm cold and dirty and… I want to go back to sleep"

"Of course my darling. We'll talk in the morning, but are you sure that this is not one of your episodes? You made such a good progress in the last years, it would be a pity if you were going back to the dark days"

"I am not mama. I promise"

Tom was walking right behind the Crawleys. He was relieved that they had come out just now, the timing more than perfect, otherwise they would have found themselves in a situation that wouldn't have been as pleasant. Something also told him that all those people, though they respected the fact that one shouldn't step into the woods at night time, would have thought the whole events just a trick of their minds. Tom was a little upset about the speed of the events he and Sybil had just witnessed, in so little time so many things had happened and his mind was full with questions.

Questions for Sybil, for Mrs. Hughes, and for himself. Questions about what would have happened next, not only regarding the death of Mr. Green and Tom's nature, the result of their actions in the woods, but also between him and Sybil.

Was it weird that one of the most persistent thoughts in his mind was whether or not, what seemed to be like the premise for a kiss just a moment earlier, would have become a real kiss? Would he have been finally able to confess his feelings to Sybil? Would he have had the opportunity to do so?

He hoped so.

Now all the cards had been put on the table, both their secrets revealed, one of the burden he had always felt in the last months vanished. Could he free himself of another by declaring his feelings and perhaps even dare to ask her to marry him? Or was it too much?

"Mr. Branson" Mrs. Hughes called him, just before he could take the path that headed to the chauffeur's cottage

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hughes, I've tried to control _it, _but I didn't manage. Had I know what would have happened next…"

"It was reckless, and it was even more reckless on Lady Sybil's part. Although she just followed her instincts, you both did"

"Aye. I've told her to go back but she wouldn't go. Mrs. Hughes, may I ask for how long Lady Sybil has…"

"Been a banshee? All her life but I think that she is the only person who can tell the story. What happened in the woods?"

Tom started a summary of the night, not leaving out any detail and asking Mrs. Hughes questions about some of the things that he didn't understand still.

"You've been lucky to make it out alive, both of you"

"It's thanks to Lady Sybil. You should have seen her" Tom paused a moment, the image of Sybil walking towards Green fully aware of herself, standing beside him prisoner of his grip, her dark curls falling down and framing her pale face, the resolution and the awareness of her powers in her eyes "She went to Green deliberately, and then slowly she realized… Her powers… She just started to scream"

"That could have ended badly"

"I didn't want any of this, and I was about to stop her. Even if… She wouldn't have let me"

"No. I'm glad that everything turned out right Mr. Branson, now go"

The housekeeper had just turned around when Tom called her back "Thank you for covering me, with the family"

"Mr. Branson, they were already worried about a missing daughter, there was no need to add another worry to the list. And having you wondering around with lady Sybil in the night would have been reason enough to sack you"

_Aye, as having me being friends with her. Being in love with her and with the intention to ask her for her hand._

They parted and Tom returned to his cottage. He put on some water to boil, having decided to drink a cup of tea before heading to bed and sleep another couple of hours before he had to start his new working day. He was tired and exhausted, that was true, but he was also aware of the fact that he had to free his mind before going to bed otherwise he wouldn't have caught any sleep. he would have just lied there, staring at the ceiling.

Tom was just about to wash his cup when he heard a soft knock on the cottage's door. At first he thought that he had just imagined it, but there it was again, this time a little more urgent and persistent.

He walked to it, mumbling _I'm coming, _and was completely flabbergasted in finding out that his visitor was no other than Sybil herself. She had cleaned herself, the scratches on her face had been cleaned too and didn't look as bad as they had earlier. She was fully dressed now, and had gathered her hear at the back of her neck.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking around for indiscreet eyes "It's risky"

"Afraid that they send another search party?" she joked, though as soon as the word left her mouth she wished she hadn't said them at all. Sybil was aware that Tom was right about the fact that she standing there was risky, especially right after they had found them together in the woods. Even if she would have explained her behavior by wanting to tell him how grateful she was that he had found her, the excuse wouldn't have hold. There was no need to rush to him in the middle of the night! Had they discovered her the fault would have been probably shifted on him, and that would have been the end of him "I'm sorry"

"Do come in"

"Am I disturbing you?"

"No. I was just about to go sleeping but it can wait a moment. Do you want something? A tea. Something to eat… I don't know."

"No, thanks. I'm here for several reasons actually. First of all I want to excuse my behavior earlier, I know that you didn't know the whole truth about why I was there and me not wanting to leave might have been a dreadful prospective"

"If it makes it better, I'm sorry to have yelled at you"

"No need, you were not the only one. I should have told you my reasons, making the whole situation more understandable. And if I did, you wouldn't have been so scared to see me waltz towards Green in that way"

" You made us earn more time, and you saved us. Can I ask you for…?"

"How long it has been going on? I don't remember exactly when it started. I think it was gradually since forever but towards the time I was ten/eleven it started to run out of hands. I had always heard things, murmurs, but with the time they grew louder and louder. I used to wake up in the middle of the night kicking and screaming because my head hurt, or curl up on the floor in my bed room during the day with my hands covering my ears screaming to make it stop"

She went on talking for a couple of minutes more, saying something about how her parents had seen those _moments, _and how Mrs. Hughes had helped her. She talked with a flat voice, not giving away any emotions just because she had long accepted what happened in the past and didn't want to reopen old wounds.

Tom felt a lump in his throat.

He tried to imagine how it was to grow up like that, but he couldn't. How was it to grow up, feeling, hearing, people suffering and dying? How was to wander every day whether or not a certain noise had been heard by someone else too?

"I'm sorry" he said.

"Don't be. I have figured it out and it got easier after I started to work on it with Mrs. Hughes, my life became more normal than it was before"

She smiled at him, and Tom smiled back.

Sybil stepped closer to him. Their bodies were oh-so-close and their faces only inches apart. The idea of leaning forwards, cup her cheeks with his hands, and kiss her was more than tempting. It would have been so easy and yet Tom didn't find the courage to do so.

"No one's life is completely normal Sybil, even if…" he said instead.

"Tom please pipe down, and could you please kiss me now?" Sybil interrupted him.

It was bold on her part but the eagerness to kiss him was growing inside her, and it seemed that Tom wasn't about to make the first move. Why? When they had been in the woods he had been on the point of kissing her, why the change of mind?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure that you can kiss me"

Sybil placed her arms around his shoulders. Tom first placed his hands on her cheeks, gently stroking them, but as their mouths met in a passionate kiss, he moved them to her back holding her closer against him. Both of them had dreamed about the moment for years and yet nothing could have prepared them for it. It wasn't how they had imagined it, it was _better._

They parted.

"I love you" whispered Tom, while holding Sybil close to him.

"Really?"

"Really. Sybil, I think I have loved you for years"

"Then it's your lucky day, because I love you too" she paused a moment "When we were coming back you were about to say something, what was it?"

_I don't suppose. _He hadn't just referred to the possibility of him kissing her, at first he had intended it like that but there was a deeper meaning.

He was about to step over the line even more.

"Can you give me a chance Sybil? If you do, I promise to devote every waking minute to your happiness. And you know that I will make something of me, you just have to bet on me"

"I do. I will always bet on you" she promised.

Then they sealed the promise with another kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

_One year later…_

The lapping of the waves was a really pleasant sound, as was the salty air and the sensation of the fresh sea water on her face. Headed to a new future, a future they would have lived together, Sybil and Tom couldn't have been more happy.

Not only were they together, with the intention to get married as soon as possible, but, free from the rules they had played at Downton, they were finally able to realize their dreams. Tom had received a job as a journalist, and Sybil had the intention to look after a job as a nurse thus finally having the chance to do a real and proper work.

There was one dark cloud over the entire set of events, something about which Sybil didn't want to think about. It had nothing to with her nature, or with Tom's, and yet it was just as grievous. It had to do with her family, with her father in particular. It was a displeasure for her that they had parted with a crack in their relationship. It was true, he had given them their blessing but she doubted that his last decision had in the end reflected a true change in his heart.

_"And all the time you've been driving me about, bowing and scraping and seducing my daughter behind my back"_

_"I don't bow and scrape, and I haven't seduced anyone. Give your daughter some credit for knowing her own mind"_

_"How dare you speak to me in this tone? And you, Sybil, this is just another one of your moments" snared her father, looking at her harshly._

_One of her moments? One of her moments?_

_She despised that word, because through the years that was the term used by her parents and relatives to describe the times her powers struck, the times in which her behavior - if one was not informed about what really was going on - resembled the one of a lunatic._

_It was already unpleasant that people in the village thought that she wasn't completely right with her head, but her father too?_

_"Papa!"_

_"This is just a folly, a ridiculous, juvenile, madness" Robert added "And I won't allow it! I will not allow my daughter to throw away her life. We should have taken other measures years ago"_

_Sybil shivered hearing the words 'other measures'. Tom grabbed her hand, holding it tight as if to show that they would have gone through the entire thing _together_. They would have not given up each other, no matter what everyone else thought._

_Why was it so difficult to understand? Why did they have to think her a lunatic, think that she had been seduced by Tom if she wanted to marry him?_

_Why couldn't they see?_

_After all it had been going on for seven years… It wasn't a decision taken from one day to the next._

_"I promise you one thing, tomorrow morning nothing will have changed"_

"Sybil? Are you all right?" Tom asked her, taking her back from her memories.

"Yes, I was just thinking about what happened. About what my father said that night" she paused a moment "It's as if they don't give me any credit. It's as if they will never come around"

He knew that it hurt her, she tried to hide it but in the end the pain was there.

"Sybil, my darling, they will. Perhaps it will take time but I'm sure that one day they will"

_"What do you think people will say? What society will think of you? Running away with the chauffeur like that! What kind of life do you want to live?"_

_"I will not give up the man I love for reasons I don't agree with. And I will _not _throw away my happiness because people will talk. I have no intention to create a scandal, I have no intention to make you feel ashamed because of me. What I want you is to accept my decisions without having to find excuses for it. I love Tom, and I will not give him up"_

"What I said that night, I still mean it. Whatever happens, I will not give you up. It took us so long, it took that night in the woods to give us an encouragement… "

"Come here" said Tom.

He embraced Sybil and hold her tight. Her head was leaning against his chest and her arms were wrapped around him.

"I love you" he whispered before giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

"I love you too. The rest is detail, isn't it?"

"It is, Sybil. It is."


End file.
